Hope Rides Alone
by LightpoleBystander
Summary: Bret is a young trainer aspiring to become a Pokemon Master, accompanied by his brother Jermaine to help him along the way. However, in the Minoku Region, things aren't always as they appear and Bret might have more than gyms to worry about.
1. The Sons of Fate

_Route 02 - Minoku Region_

"Got it!" Jermaine smirked, clutching the Poke Ball until it ceased rumbling.

Bret frowned, "You said you were gonna let me catch the next one."

"Did I?" Jermaine said and turned around, tossing the ball over his shoulder. "You can have that one then."

The ball caught Bret off guard, bouncing out of his hands twice before he caught it.

"R-really?" He asked, with Jermaine shrugging in response. Bret clutched the ball tight, then turned to his side, "What do you think Muldoon?"

Bret's Treecko crossed its arms, looking at the Poke Ball cautiously, but then nodded approvingly.

"Come on!" Jermaine's voice echoed down the trail, snapping Bret back into reality and into a light jog to catch up to his older brother.

"Sorry, I got distracted."

"Gee, that's new." Jermaine laughed, rolling his eyes and pushing Bret slightly.

Catching his balance, Bret hopped back up next to his brother, "So...how far do you think it is to the next town?"

Jermaine half-frowned and glanced at his watch, "Fu-..." He began, quickly glancing at Bret and then to his watch, "-bout an hour, at least."

They sighed in unison and kept walking.

_The Chiming Temple – Evergreen City_

A tired man's gaze follows a flock of Spearow over the trees, leading him to the eyes of an approaching woman. By any standards, she is beautiful; brilliant green eyes, complimented by light brown skin and dark brown hair. He opens his mouth to speak, but a single finger silences him. A bell begins to chime as her fingers dig into his golden hair, pulling him close and breathing heavily. Not a word is spoken as the sun dips below the horizon, blanketing the temple in darkness.

_Kalmia City _

It was an hour into nightfall by the time Jermaine and Bret had reached Kalmia City. Unable to decide if they were more tired or hungry, they quickly located the nearest Pokemon Center and promptly passed out on the waiting area sofas. As quickly as sleep had come, the morning arrived and the duo found themselves wishing they had eaten the night before. After obtaining their Pokemon from the nurse, they agreed it would be best to find something to eat before taking on the gym.

Bret grimaced at the sight of mushrooms on his plate, poking them gently with his fork, as if not to make them too angry. He ate his chicken slowly, his eyes focused intently on the mushrooms. Jermaine held his plate in one hand, fork in the other, turned away from Bret to keep himself from laughing and choking on his food.

"Jermaine," Bret sighed, "Do you think I can really take on this gym already?"

Jermaine chuckled and put his plate down, "Did you already forget what I give you for Treecko?"

"Tree?" Hearing its name, the Pokemon popped its head up over the table.

"Remember?" He tapped the side of his head. "Remember?"

"Oh...oh! The technical machine!" Bret shook his head, "I'm sorry."

Jermaine rubbed his face, "Just call it a TM, Bret." He shook his head now. "You'll do great."

"I don't really understand though," Bret began, "Why is the gym steel-type if the town is known for oil? Wouldn't fire-types make more sense?"

"Now that," Jermaine smiled, "Is the smartest thing you've said all day."

Bret's face went red, shuffling his fork and knife on the plate and quickly stuffing a piece of chicken in his mouth. Unfortunately it wasn't chicken, though Bret may not have realized that until he saw his brother's face.

Moments later, after some ear piercing screaming from Bret, the two found themselves outside. The restaurant's head chef happened to be cooking today; he also happened to be very strong and quite fond of mushrooms.

"Screw your stinking restaurant!" Jermaine screamed, shaking his fist at the door. "Feckin' money hungry-" He went on to grumble a number of curses under his breath.

Bret smiled; he knew that Jermaine wasn't actually angry and that he'd go back to acting normal any second now. For some reason he always took things to umpteenth level, but Bret never thought anything of it. He just smiled and shook his head; maybe it was the reactions, or the attention, but either way…

"Let's go kid."

The gym of Kalmia stood solitarily, confined to a block of its own with a background of constantly moving oil rigs. An archway of connected cogs marked the entrance, partly rusted, though you couldn't tell if it was paint or actual rust. Jermaine chuckled as he led Bret through the entrance, a feeling of déjà vu setting in…

"Oh." A voice echoed across the room, "I was wondering if I would have any challengers today."

Jermaine scoffed, "One, actually." He pulled open his jacket, showing two rows of four pins attached, but pointed to the cog shaped one.

"Oh…" The voice sounded disappointed.

The lights suddenly flashed and illuminated the room. The room was circular and seemed to be made completely out of metal, save for the entrance floor and a path leading to where the man was sitting. The man stood up after Bret's gaze landed back on him and he spoke, "My name is Gray. Are you prepared to battle?"

Jermaine nudged Bret forward, "Yeah!" He shouted a bit too loudly.

Gray smiled, the light glinting off his glasses, "Let's get started then."


	2. The Stand Man or Machine

_The Chiming Temple – Evergreen City_

The sun rays peek in through the shades, but the tired man is already awake; his sunken grey-blue eyes focused on the door, where footsteps could be heard. He lifts his scarlet sweater, revealing a belt filled with Poke Balls and takes one between each finger. No matter how ready one can be there will always be something they didn't see coming: the beautiful woman raises a chair above her head, the sunlight shimmering in the tears on her cheeks. The tired man hits the floor hard, his Poke Balls rolling in different directions and his hand reaching out for them as he slips away. Another crash and the door shatters, "Don't worry…he's out."

_Kalmia Gym – Kalmia City_

Gray stood expressionless with his arms crossed; a small Aron stood ready several feet in front of him. Bret mimicked this, anxiety slowly attempting to take over his senses. Muldoon hopped off his shoulder, "Tre-ko!" It called out, smirking with that same cocky grin that Jermaine was famous for. Bret nodded, "Get him Muldoon."

"Metal Claw."

Aron shot forward, its four little feet propelling it much faster than expected. Muldoon was already sprinting forward, ready to meet Aron head-on.

"BRICK BREAK!" Bret screamed, seconds before they collided.

The Aron leapt, its front legs turning into razor sharp metal spikes. Muldoon halted his run, pulling back his fist and catching Aron in mid jump. A thick crack echoed throughout the gym as Aron was catapulted backwards, skidding across the metal floor on its back until it hit the far wall. A line of blood trailed down Muldoon's arm from where the Aron's attack had landed, but it was superficial.

Gray wordlessly called back his fainted Pokemon, pulling a second ball from his pocket and tossing it out. A Magnemite appeared and hovered forward slowly.

"Gravity."

"Ugh." Bret took a knee as he was overpowered, struggling against the pressure not to fall completely flat.

"That's one of his tricks." Jermaine chimed in, stepping forward, seemingly unaffected by the attack. "I fell flat on my face when he first used it, but then I stood right back up. Get up Bret."

Gritting his teeth, Bret groaned and scowled against the invisible force. Straining every muscle in his body, he stood; albeit, sweating and shaking, but he stood.

Gray clapped, "Congratulations. Now let's see your Pokemon do the same: Sonicboom."

The air around Magnemite began to contort and then quickly exploded forward in spiraling waves towards Muldoon. Unable to dodge, he was hit directly and took the full force of the attack as the gravity held him in-place.

The Magnemite buzzed positively, but stopped as Muldoon shook off the attack and stood up. Bret smiled, "Don't let up Muldoon, Quick Attack and then Brick Break!"

Muldoon darted forward, a rush of energy surged through his body, allowing him to ignore the gravity effect. Effortlessly he leapt through the air and slammed both fists onto the Magnemite, sending it spinning backwards into Gray's arms.

Bret couldn't help but grin as the gravity effect dissipated. Muldoon returned to his side of the arena and posed. Returning Magnemite, Gray pulled out his finally Poke Ball and released a very odd looking Pokemon called Mawhile.

"Ice Punch."

The Mawhile charged and Muldoon sped off to meet it; he didn't need a command, he knew what to do. The two Pokemon met in the center of the gym and Muldoon's fist connected with the first ice punch, freezing to the Mawhile on impact. Using his momentum from the run, he leapt over it, lifting it up into the air and then slamming it into the gym floor. Muldoon held up his free fist, but hesitated, and kicked the Mawhile free of their icy bond. The battle was over.

_Amborella City – Several Years Ago_

Charizard bellowed as it was struck by Garchomp's claws, stumbling backwards and then falling to the floor. Jermaine clutched his fists and fell to his knees; it was over.

"STOP!" He screamed, recalling Charizard quickly, "I give up."

The Garchomp disappeared in a flash of red, revealing a yellow haired man.

"Already? You could have won; you could have been the champion."

"WON?!" Tears flowed down Jermaine's face, "You call this winning?!" He threw one of his Poke Balls at the man. "You tell-" He threw another ball "-all of my friends-" another "-that this-" another "-is winning!" He paused to breath, "But you can't…because you fucking killed them!"

"Don't act like you didn't expect this!" The man shouted back, "You knew what you were getting into the day you set foot inside a gym, the day you decided your Pokemon were going to fight."

The lights dimmed and the man stepped forward, "You think people watch these battles because they want to see friendship and love? All they want blood."

"Get away from me you monster!" Jermaine yelled.

"Don't you get it kid? A necessary evil gives people hope, something to fight for; something to believe in!" He scowled. "We're the heroes. We give new trainers a reason to go out and participate in battles, to take on the gyms. Do you realize that more than half of our economy is funded out of the pockets of Pokemon trainers like yourself?"

Jermaine laughed through the tears, "You call yourself a hero?!" He stood up. "You…disgust me."

The man begun to walk away, but Jermaine called out, "You're wrong, you know that?"

"Kid…" The man turned, "The Elite Four looked to me once, do you think they will turn to you if you beat me? They revere me because I am the bigger monster. I came here, I gave everything I could, but I was the last. There are no more heroes left in man."


End file.
